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Padma Vibhushan for Gangubai Hangal, Kishori Amonkar

Hindustani vocalists Gangubai Hangal and Kishori Amonkar, economist and Andhra Pradesh Governor Dr Chakravarty Rangarajan, Attorney General Soli Sorabjee and tabla player Pandit Kishan Maharaj were chosen for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian honour.

Prominent among the Padma Bhushan awardees are cricket selector and 1960s allrounder Chandu Borde, mountaineer Major H P S Ahluwalia, stage legend Habib Tanvir, New York-based filmmaker Ismail Merchant, Constitutional lawyer K K Venugopal, former foreign secretaries Jagat Singh Mehta and Maharaj Kumar Rasgotra, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, dancer Sitara Devi and banking expert Pravinchandra V Gandhi.

US Congressmen Frank Pallone and Gary Ackerman, leading members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, have also been conferred the Padma Bhushan.

Among the 27 others named for the Padma Bhushan are yoga guru B K S Iyengar, Tatat Consultancy Services chairman Faquir Chand Kohli, businessman Henning Holck Larsen who cofounded engineering major Larsen Toubro, Malayalam singer K J Yesudas, thumri exponent Shobha Gurtu, vocalist Prabha Atre, Mahindra and Mahindra chairman Keshub Mahindra, cartoonist Mario Miranda, Dr N Ranghabashyam, famed Hindi writer Nirmal Verma, R V Perumal (science and engineering) and V C Kulandaiswamy, former vice-chancellor of Anna University of Technology.

Among the 66 Padma Shri winners are aeronautics engineer Kota Harinarayana, who is associated with the Light Combat Aircraft project, ghatam master Vikku Vinayakram, Vichitra Veena exponent and Grammy award-winner Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, film directors Govind Nihalani and Mani Ratnam.

Tamil actress Manorama, who has acted in over 500 films, is among the Padma Shri awardees.

Other Padma Shri awardees include Ustad Abdul Latif Khan (instrumental music), Darshana Jhaveri (classical dance), Fazal Mohammed (crafts), Kiran Sehgal (dance), Mani Krishnaswami (Carnatic music), N P Seshadri (classical music), Pushpa Bhuyan (classical dance), Raj Begum (art), Washington-based photographer Rajan Devdas, Saroja Vaidyanathan (classical dance) and Korean artist Yang-Shik Kim.

A S Narayana (dentistry), Amitav Mallik (defence research), Anand Swarup Arya (engineering), A S Pillai (engineering), Ashok Jhunjhunwala (telecommunications), B N Suresh (engineering), Chaitanyamoy Ganguly (nuclear science), D Balasubramanian (ocular biochemistry) and Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy (medicine) have been given the award for their achievements in their areas of endeavour.

Sri Lankan artist W Don Amardeva was also awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of classical music.

Other scientists who have been given the Padma Shri include G N Rao (medicine), Harsh Mahajan (radiology), H S Kamath (nuclear science), I V Subba Rao (agriculture science), K Narayana (engineering), Dr K Mathangi Ramakrishnan (medicine), Kamaljit Singh Paul (neurosurgery), N Balakrishnan (engineering), P K Sethi (medicine) and P Balaram (biophysics), Prakash Kothari (medicine), Ramnath Cowsik (physics), Suresh H Advani (oncology), Vijay Kumar Dada (opthalmology), Vikram Marwaha (medicine), V K Sharma (nuclear science) and Pradeep K Chaubey (medicine).

Educationist Ashok Kelkar, playwright Gopal Chhotray, Gyan Chand Jain (literature), Indira Goswami (education), Madhu Karnik (literature), M Anandakrishnan (literature), Muzaffar Hussain (journalism), T K Rao (journalism), V K Madhavan Kutty (mass communication) and Greek literary figure V Dimitris C are the other Padma Shri winners.

Among those awarded the Padma Shri for their contributions to social work include Hrashel Luaia, Kiran Martin, Norma Alvares, US-based Phillips Talbot (public affairs), Dr Prakash Amte, Prema Purav, S Rajaram, Satish Chandra Rai, Japanese social activist T Nakoyama and Viresh Pratap Chaudhry.

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